


ab initio

by atimi (bertee)



Series: CWRPF: horas non numero [2]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Ancient Rome, First Kiss, M/M, Sexual Harassment, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-06
Updated: 2010-09-06
Packaged: 2017-11-11 10:06:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/477378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bertee/pseuds/atimi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Slave!Jensen and nobleman!Jared have their first kiss.</p>
            </blockquote>





	ab initio

Unlike thousands of other slaves, Jensen had never known anyplace other than Rome. 

His first memories were of his master's house, of running over the colorful mosaics covering the floor and of offering up plates of food to his owners as they patted his head and smiled when his hands wobbled. He'd spent years running errands on the city streets, and while he had less-than-pleasant recollections of being dragged around the marketplace like a dog on a leash during his months with the slaver, most days he was thankful that he lived in the city.

Unfortunately today was not one of those days.

One of the bad things about Rome was the weather, especially as the harvest season passed into the chill of winter. The sky had been clear when Master Murray had sent him out to pay off his gambling debts and to buy his food, but Jensen barely made it down to the river before the heavens opened.

The rain came down in sheets, icy cold in the wind that swept off the Tiber. It soaked his hair in seconds, running into his eyes and down the back of his neck, and Jensen wished that he had more protection than his flimsy tunic as he wrapped his arms around himself and hurried towards the address Master Murray had given him, being careful not to bump into any citizens as he ran. 

The address turned out to be a tall, rickety-looking building by the riverfront, the kind that looked like it would go up in flames in seconds the next time there was a fire in that part of the city. The rain helped him get over his nerves about entering - it was too wet and too cold to consider standing outside longer than he had to - and Jensen tried to ready himself for the unknown as he pushed open the wooden door of the tavern.

It was like walking into a bathhouse. The smell of the incense and the heat from the torches lining the walls was overpowering, warming Jensen's skin quickly and making him all the more conscious of the rainwater trickling down from his hair and into the fabric of his tunic. The group of men clustered at the center of the room quieted when he entered and he could feel their eyes on him as he edged forward, trying to look as subservient and respectful as possible.

"What have we got here?"

The question was accompanied by a clatter of wooden chairs being pushed back and Jensen lowered his eyes as two men approached him curiously. Uncertain who had spoken, he went for the standard form of address when he replied, "Master Murray sent me, Sir. He wants me to pay the debt he owes."

He heard the men at the table chuckle unpleasantly and did his best not to flinch when a hand ghosted over his lower back.

"Does he now?" It was a different person speaking, older and more confident, and Jensen glanced up to get a better look at the man in the center of the group who was clearly the leader. "Murray owes me _money_ , boy. I don't know what he was thinking but you can go back and tell him that Vinicius doesn't take payments in trade." He looked him up and down and Jensen's skin crawled. "I'm sure you're great at sucking cock but if I wanted my money to be spent on whores, I'd go to a brothel."

Jensen managed a shaky nod, breath coming in shallow bursts as he felt the two men move closer, to trap him between them. "Yes, Sir. M-Master Murray gave me money to pay you with." With cold fingers, he struggled to untie the money purse from his belt but eventually held it out as an offering. "This should cover his debts, Sir."

Vinicius gestured to one of his men and Jensen kept as still as he could when the money bag was taken from his hand and its contents counted. The man nodded gruffly, tossing the purse onto the table in front of Vinicius to land with a jingle. "'S all there, Sir."

Vinicius smiled, his missing tooth matching the line of a scar on his top lip. "Good. Nice to see that Murray knows how to pay his debts on time." His eyes locked on Jensen's. "I'd hate to have to send a pretty little thing like you back to him as a message."

One of the men laughed into his ear, dark and almost hopeful, and even in the heat of the room, Jensen felt cold all over as the man's hand came up to close around his jaw. 

"Well," Vinicius amended from the table, " _I_ 'd hate to do that. I'm sure Adro here would be more than happy to help out."

Jensen choked back a plea as the man beside him - Adro, presumably - wrenched his head to the side and forced him to face him as his rancid breath hit his cheek. He heard a movement behind him and was seconds away from begging them not to hurt him when another hand closed around his arm and shoved him backwards, towards the door and away from Adro. 

"Get out," Vinicius ordered. 

Jensen wasn't about to stick around to argue with him.

His hands were shaking before he made it back out into the rain and he stopped to take in a breath when the door swung shut behind him, reminding himself with each inhale that he was lucky and with each exhale that he still had errands to complete. Under the steady downpour, it didn't take long for him to decide that finishing his errands and getting back to the house was a higher priority than worrying about some overly handsy debt collectors, and he folded his arms across his chest in a vain attempt to keep himself warm when he set off for the forum. 

He took a detour along the sidestreets with the hope that the high buildings and narrow passages would provide more protection against the rain but by the time the temple of Saturn came into view, he was drenched from head to toe. His tunic clung to him, dark and heavy with the water it had absorbed, and his sandals rubbed uncomfortably, water-logged and filthy from the mud that splattered his legs. He knew his hair was plastered to his head and he ran his numb fingers through it to no avail as the rain kept pounding down.

Worried about how he was supposed to get the food back to the house without anything to keep it dry, Jensen came to a halt and sighed when he saw how deserted the forum was. 

The usual crowds were absent, the trials had been postponed or relocated, and even the shop vendors had retreated because of the weather. A couple of fruit stalls were still in place under the front of the basilica and he knew wine merchants would still be peddling their goods somewhere but everything else was closed, their doors bolted shut to keep the rain out as much as possible.

Defeated, Jensen let his head drop down as he turned to head back up to his master's house, praying that he wouldn't be punished too severely for his failure to complete the necessary errands. He couldn't muster up enough energy to run back home and so began the slow trek back with his head down, his arms wrapped around his body, and his teeth clenched to stop them from chattering. 

The rain was loud as it hammered down on the buildings but Jensen frowned when he heard someone shouting above the noise of the weather. 

"Jensen! Jensen, wait!"

He turned, squinting through the rain at the figure running towards him, but his eyes widened when he caught sight of the familiar face behind the hood of the cloak. "Sir?!" The man came closer and Jensen amended, stunned, "Jared?"

Raindrops ran down his face and he blinked them out of his eyes when Jared came to a halt in front of him, face half-hidden beneath the hood of his expensive cloak. "Are you okay?"

Jensen crossed his arms tighter across his chest and tried not to let his teeth chatter when he nodded. "I'm fine." Aware that they were in the middle of the street, he looked around nervously and stammered, "I s-should get back."

"In this weather?" Jared called above the noise of the downpour. "Jensen, you're soaked."

Given the way his water-logged tunic was clinging to his body, Jensen was well aware of how soaked he was, but he held back his instinctive retort about how he didn't have a choice. "I'm fine, Si- Jared. Really."

"You're shaking," Jared said, moving in to rest his warm hands on Jensen's shoulders. "C'mon, let's get you someplace dry."

He started to walk, slinging his arm around Jensen's shoulders to guide him forward. Tucked into Jared's side, Jensen had no option but to follow him as he hustled them both across the street into the shelter of the nearest alcove within the wall of the basilica. A burly freedman had evidently had the same thought and was occupying half of it, but Jensen let Jared jostle him into the narrow space on the other side of the statue that stood in the middle of the alcove. 

While it was better than standing out in the rain, it didn't provide much protection as the wind whipped the rain against the stone, and Jensen struggled to hide how much he was shivering when Jared looked at him with concern. Feeling guilty that a citizen was stuck out in the rain because of him, Jensen tried to pull away from Jared's grip as he said, "You don't need to do this, Sir. I should go home-"

"Stop pretending like I'm gonna let you go wandering through the streets in this weather," Jared interrupted with a smile. "And stop calling me Sir. C'mere."

He was pulling his cloak off before Jensen could make a break for it or tell him to stop. He stood, cold and stunned, as Jared wrapped the material around both of them, creating a shield against the rain that left them huddled together against the stone wall and under the fabric of Jared's cloak. 

Jared grinned at him in the semi-darkness of the material that covered their heads, and Jensen found himself smiling back through chattering teeth when Jared teased, "See? This is much better." He wedged the cloak in place between his shoulder and the wall and rested his hands on Jensen's arms. "Fuck, you're freezing." He pulled him into a hug before Jensen could say anything and asked, "Why were you out like that? Did you forget your cloak or something?"

Fighting the urge to burrow into the warmth of Jared's embrace, Jensen stayed as tense and detached as he could when he said quietly, "I don't have a cloak."

Jared's eyes were wide as he loosened the hug and Jensen dropped his head, embarrassed by the fact that his master didn't think enough of him to give him appropriate clothes. There was nowhere for him to retreat to within the confines of the cloak but there wasn't a trace of scorn in Jared's voice when he rested his hand on the side of Jensen's neck and said, "I'll talk to Chad about getting you one. He probably just forgot about it - he hasn't had his own slave before."

Jensen was more than ready to protest but swallowed it down. He'd learned from experience not to argue with Jared about things like this; Jensen would say he didn't want Jared to go to any trouble on his behalf, Jared would say it was nothing, and they'd go back and forth until Jensen yielded and Jared got that pleased grin on his face which always stayed with Jensen for days after he left. 

It wasn't too much of a hardship to jump straight to seeing that grin and Jensen found himself smiling too when Jared pulled him close again to keep warm and teased, "Gotta say, I was expecting an argument about that."

Jensen shrugged and smiled into Jared's shoulder. "I learned my lesson."

"You mean that in a good way, right?" Jared asked. "Like, you learned your lesson because I get all obnoxious about making sure Chad's taking care of you, not because you're scared of me?"

Knowing that Jared didn't want to hear about his (healthy) fear of all free citizens, Jensen pulled back enough to look at him. "Option A?"

Insulting a free man, however obliquely, went against everything that Jensen had been taught, even when he knew that was the answer Jared wanted, and he couldn't keep from holding his breath until he heard Jared laugh and say happily, "Excellent. I can totally live with being obnoxious." 

He leaned against the wall and kept talking, as though this was a usual, everyday conversation, like Jensen was his equal rather than his inferior. "My parents and Jeff are out of the city for the rest of the month and it turns out I'm not so good at getting things done when I'm on my own. Sam stops the house from falling down but I suck at being a responsible adult." 

Jensen smiled in spite of himself and asked, "Is that why you were out in the rain?"

Jared huffed out an exaggerated sigh. "Yeah. I hate rain. Sam says it makes me look like a dog who fell into the Tiber and I think she has a point." He shook his mostly-dry hair but Jensen laughed when the wet strands at the front clung to his forehead, sending water trickling down off the end of his nose. "See? Wet dog is not an attractive look on me."

Reaching up to smooth the wet hair off of his face, Jensen avoided meeting his eyes when he said, "You look good, Jared. You always look good."

He kept his gaze down, unsure of how Jared would take the compliment (and unsure of how he'd intended for it to be taken), but he wasn't prepared for Jared to run a hand through his hair in return as he said playfully, "Took the words right out of my mouth."

The cover of the cloak suddenly felt suffocating, and Jensen fixed his eyes somewhere below Jared's collarbone as his cheeks flushed in embarrassment. Their interactions - _Jensen hesitated to call it a friendship_ \- were strange at the best of times but they were pretty much the highlight of Jensen's days and he cringed internally at the thought that he could lose that by overstepping the boundaries of familiarity. "I- I should go-"

"No way," Jared said, and Jensen risked a glance up to see that his expression was relaxed and open instead of angry and offended. "Did you forget about the crazy amount of rain coming down right now?" 

It was hard to forget when he could see the rain bouncing off the ground around his feet, but Jensen didn't make an attempt to leave as Jared slid an arm around his waist and pulled him in close. It had been nearly four months since he'd first met Jared and while he'd gotten used to the friendly contact, it was still unsettling to be touched like he was a person instead of property. 

However, when Jared's hand curled around his hip, Jensen relaxed into the touch and leaned into his side as Jared asked, "What're you doing out here anyway? What's so urgent that Chad sent you out in the rain to get it?"

"It wasn't raining when I left," Jensen said, instinctively trying to defend his master's choices. "He wanted me to pick up some food but most of the stalls closed when it started raining."

"He won't care," Jared promised, and Jensen tried not to appear so grateful for the reassurance. "His kitchen always has twice as much food as mine and I'm not letting you run around the city in the rain for hours because he wants a certain type of snack."

Jensen's previous gratitude was replaced by guilt at Jared's assumption that he would keep looking until he'd found everything his master wanted, and he admitted, ashamed, "I thought I wouldn't be able to get everything - I was headed back when you found me."

To his surprise, Jared looked pleased instead of disappointed. "Good! That's good, Jensen. I am all for you making smart choices." His expression deepened into a frown when he saw the look on Jensen's face and he pulled him around to face him, somehow knowing what was going through Jensen's head. "And he's not gonna beat you. He probably won't even notice you didn't get the food, and if he does, he won't care enough to get angry about it."

Wanting to believe him, Jensen bit his lip but Jared's frown stayed in place as he asked, "So Chad just sent you out to get food? Why didn't the kitchen slaves go?"

Jensen shrugged. "He wanted me to pay off his gambling debts too. I guess he didn't trust the kitchen slaves with the money."

"Where did he send you?" Jared asked suspiciously. Still feeling cold despite the protection of the cloak, Jensen waited for the latest shiver to pass through him before responding and Jared asked again, louder, "Where?"

"Down by the river," Jensen answered quietly. "To Vinicius."

Jared's eyebrows shot up and Jensen couldn't stop himself from flinching back at his raised voice, "Vinicius? He sent you there on your own?"

"I- He doesn't have any more slaves," Jensen said. "There wasn't anyone else I could go with."

"He could've sent you with one of his family's slaves," Jared said, getting louder again. "Or with a freedman, or one of the neighbor's slaves, or one of the citizens working at his house. Fuck, he could've gone with you himself!"

"It's what I'm here for," Jensen reminded him. "He owns me - he doesn't need to give me an escort to run errands. I paid off his debts and I'm fine."

Jared exhaled through gritted teeth but sounded more worried than angry when he said, "No-one goes down by the river on their own, not even citizens. They could've killed you-"

"They didn't," Jensen interrupted, resting a hand on Jared's chest to calm him down. "Jared, I'm okay."

Jared seemed conflicted when he looked up, and Jensen's breath caught when he moved closer, tightening his grip on Jensen's hips as if to reassure himself that he was still there and in one piece. "Did they hurt you?"

Jensen shook his head and repeated, "I'm okay." Knowing what Jared wanted to hear, he said, "They didn't even notice me. It was quiet because of the weather and Vinicius was busy with his men - he barely looked at me twice." He reached up to run a hand through Jared's hair, knuckles skimming the material of the cloak above their heads. "You don't need to worry about me."

Jared smiled, tired but real. "I always need to worry about you. Who else is gonna do it?"

The words felt like a slap in the face, a too-sharp reminder of Jensen's lack of family, friends, or a master who gave a damn about him, and from the way Jared's face fell, Jensen knew he hadn't concealed his hurt as well as he should have. "Shit, Jensen, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

"It doesn't matter, Sir."

The 'Sir' made it out before Jensen could catch it and he bit down on his tongue in frustration; Jared didn't need any more proof that he was a fuck-up. He hunched in on himself, arms dropping to his sides and head lowered in a quick prayer that Jared would just let him get out of there before he got anything else wrong, but Jared's grip on his hips didn't loosen.

"Jensen, I didn't-" He sighed. "Will you look at me? Please?" 

Jensen complied and he tried again, "I didn't mean to say that. I just meant that you don't look after yourself sometimes and I get worried."

Jensen shook his head. "You don't need to apologize to me."

"Yeah, I do," Jared countered. "I shouldn't have said that, and I'm sorry."

A citizen apologizing to a slave was even more alien than the way Jared's hands settled on his shoulders like he was his friend, and Jensen figured that, after everything else, he should at least get this right. "Jared, I'm a slave. You don't need-"

"To say sorry?" He smiled. "Look, I know you're a slave but that doesn't mean I'm gonna get struck down by a lightning bolt for treating you with basic courtesy. I like you, Jensen. Why do you think I worry about you so much?"

Normal people only worried about their slaves if they were incompetent (and a waste of money) or sick (and a waste of money), but neither of those options seemed like the right answer. Part of him wanted to ask why Jared had decided he liked him - it wasn't as though Jensen had done anything to earn Jared's approval - but he drew the most obvious conclusion and said diplomatically, "I'm sure Master Murray would give his permission if you want to sleep with me."

"What?" Jared looked flustered and Jensen curled in on himself, hating that he'd said the wrong thing yet again. "Jensen, you- I don't want that."

"Then what do you want?" 

The words came out more forcefully than he had intended, frustration, tiredness, and confusion eroding his usual self-control, but his apology caught in his throat when Jared's hand came up to cup his cheek. Leaning into the warmth of the touch, Jensen met his eyes as Jared murmured, "Honestly? I kind of want to kiss you right now."

Jensen froze at the admission and he braced himself for the crush of the kiss before he realized that Jared wasn't making any attempt at taking what he wanted. 

Jared's thumb stroked along his cheekbone and he almost looked shy when he said, "I was kind of hoping you would wanna kiss me too?"

Jensen didn't say anything, half-convinced he was dead and drifting away to the Underworld somewhere, because he always woke up before his dreams went this far. 

Faced with silence, Jared continued nervously, "You can say no if you want to. It won't change anything - I won't be mad and I'll still get worried about you when Chad is dumb enough to send you out to see a psycho debt collector in the rain without a cloak." Jensen smiled at that, unsure of what to say, but Jared's anxious expression relaxed into a matching smile. "I just- I like you, Jensen, and I'd really, really like to kiss you if you'd let me."

He looked at him, hope shining in his eyes, and Jensen didn't trust his voice to work when he nodded.

"Is that a yes?" Jared said hopefully. "You want this?"

The rain beat down on the cloak over their heads but it was easy enough for Jensen to shut it out, slipping away into the dream and forgetting about his master and Vinicius and the beating he deserved for what was about to happen. Jared's hand was warm and soft against his wet skin and he felt Jared's body press against his when he closed the gap between them and said honestly, "Yes."

Jared beamed but Jensen stayed frozen in place, expecting the dream to end when Jared leaned in to initiate the kiss. Jared's lips brushed against his, first pressing too hard out of enthusiasm but then easing off a little as Jared slanted their mouths together and kissed him, slow and gentle and so much better than he'd imagined.

Not knowing what he was supposed to do in this situation – his training hadn't covered 'kissing your master's best friend' - Jensen let Jared dictate the speed and intensity of the kiss, but he parted his lips willingly when Jared wrapped one arm around his waist and rested his other hand at the base of his skull, stroking his fingers over his wet hair.

Jared's body was warm and strong, and Jensen let himself be pulled in close as the rain kept falling around them. Jared licked inside his mouth, curling his tongue against Jensen's lip and letting it slide playfully against Jensen's until Jensen smiled and risked kissing back a little more eagerly. With his eyes shut and Jared's cloak and arms over and around him, Jensen was cut off from the rest of the city and he sank into the seclusion as Jared's mouth stayed locked with his, hot and wet and messy and amazing.

His chest was tight from the way he'd held his breath earlier and the way he hardly dared to breathe in case he woke up and it all dissolved into nothing. He could taste the lingering flavor of food in Jared's mouth, something rich and expensive that Jensen knew he'd never get to sample, but he licked the rainwater from the corners of Jared's mouth with the knowledge that Jared was tasting the same water on Jensen's own lips as they broke apart reluctantly.

He half-expected reality to come flooding back in when he pulled away to take a breath, but as he opened his eyes, all he saw was the bashful, delighted smile on Jared's face.

"That..." Jared's grin got even wider. "I'm glad you said yes, man."

Jensen ducked his head, embarrassed, but admitted, "Me too." 

He let Jared coax his chin up to drop another kiss on his lips and smiled against his neck when Jared pulled him into a tighter hug and said with a sigh, "As much as I would love to stay here and kiss you all day, I should let you go back home. You're soaked and I don't want you staying out in the cold any longer than you need to."

Jensen knew his arms and legs were covered with goosebumps but he protested anyway, wanting to stay with Jared for as long as he could, "I'm okay."

Jared chuckled. "Liar. Here, you should take this."

With one quick yank, he pulled the cloak down from where it was covering them. Jensen flinched at the shock of the cold rain on his face but his mouth fell open when Jared wrapped the cloak around his shoulders and pulled the hood up over his head to shield him from the rain. "Jared, what-"

"Shh," Jared said, still looking kissed-out and happy. "You need this more than I do."

"But it's yours," Jensen said, stunned. "You'll get wet."

Jared's hair was already looking damp from the rain but his smile didn't dim when he pushed the wet locks off his forehead and tilted his face up into the rain. "I can live with getting wet. Anyway, my house is closer than Chad's - I don't need to go as far."

"But-"

Jared put his finger over his lips, cutting off Jensen's protests about how the cloak was probably worth more than he was. "No 'but's. Take the cloak, Jensen. You need it." He fastened the ties in a messy bow that rested in the dip of Jensen's collarbone and put a hand on his shoulder as he said with a wink, "Anyway, this gives me an excuse to stop by Chad's place tomorrow. Y'know, to 'retrieve my cloak'." 

He leaned in close and said in a teasing whisper, "In case you missed it, seeing you would be the real reason for me stopping by."

Beginning to accept that he really wasn't dreaming, Jensen bit his lip to hide his smile as he said hopefully, "See you tomorrow?"

Jared nodded and started to back away, almost bouncing with happiness. "See you tomorrow, Jensen."

He turned to run back down the street toward his house as the rain continued to pour down from the heavens. Wrapped up in Jared's expensive cloak, Jensen watched until he was out of sight, trying to process what had just happened. 

Rationally, he knew it would probably never go much further between them - a slave could only amuse a citizen for so long and it was more than likely that Jared wouldn't even show up tomorrow - but as he pulled Jared's cloak tighter around himself and set off on the long walk home, he figured it wouldn't hurt to hope for at least one more kiss.


End file.
